


Tradition

by camichats



Category: Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe, Estrangement, F/M, Jewish Tony Stark, Jewish Wanda Maximoff, Married Couple, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-13 16:08:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29031444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: When Wanda and Tony got married, it was in a traditional Jewish ceremony. Five years later, Wanda hardly recognizes her husband and leaves. A decade after that, she's back for a divorce, but Tony convinces her to give him one last chance.
Relationships: Wanda Maximoff/Tony Stark
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	Tradition

**Author's Note:**

  * For [periwinklepromise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/periwinklepromise/gifts).



"Mister Stark?" Pepper said, her voice coming in through the intercom on his desk. "Someone at the front desk is asking for you." 

Tony pressed down on the button that let him talk to her. "Who is it?" Normally he didn't have to prod Pepper for answers like this, but then again, she normally didn’t tell him every single time someone at the front desk asked for him. If she did, he’d be flooded with reporters and fans. 

"She says she's your wife?" she said, clearly not sure if she believed it. 

Tony frowned. Wanda was living in Sokovia with Pietro, last he'd heard. They didn't really talk anymore, but he'd made it clear that she could contact him if she wanted to live somewhere else and he'd fund it. He'd bought her that house in Sokovia when they split, and part of their continued relationship meant that he paid the taxes for the land every year-- as well as sending her money that she could use on repairs and food and the like. 

There wasn't really a reason for her to be here unless something had happened. The only thing he could think of that would require a personal visit instead of an email or phone call was if Pietro had died. 

He sincerely hoped that wasn't the case. 

"Did she say what she'd here about?" Tony asked. 

"Um, no, just that she wants to see you." 

"Do I have anything coming up that needs my attention?" 

"Nothing other than the paperwork sitting on your desk." 

He wouldn’t call that something ‘coming up’. "Can you have them send her up?" 

"Of course," Pepper said. It was clear that she wanted to ask when the hell Tony had gotten married and why he'd never said anything about it to her, but she was a good assistant and knew how to prioritize. 

It took a couple minutes, but Wanda eventually made her way up to his office. He spent those minutes worrying about what this visit was about instead of filling out paperwork. He hoped that everything was okay and that, beyond all odds, this was purely a social visit. 

Maybe she just wanted to catch up. Maybe she wanted to move back to the States and didn't think she could ask for a new house over email or something. For a moment, he entertained the idea that she came back to talk about them. They'd been married for ages, so it was possible that Wanda wanted to give their relationship another shot. He wanted it to be about that, but really, what were the chances? It had been years since they last talked. 

No, whatever this was, it wasn't good news. 

When she finally opened the door, Tony had talked himself in circles and only had heightened anxiety to show for it. Wanda looked about the same as she always had, but perhaps with a few more lines on her face to show for the years that had passed. Her hair was covered with a brown scarf, and he guessed from her clothes that she still didn't mix fabrics. But then, he'd never expected for her to have stopped-- he never had. 

As always, his chest went warm at the sight of her. He stood up when she entered the room and offered her a smile that she weakly returned. "Wanda," he said, walking around his desk and over to her. "It's good to see you, but-- and I hope this doesn't sound rude-- why are you here?" 

She held up a manila folder that he hadn't noticed. "I um. I'm here for a divorce." 

Tony blinked, his heart sinking faster than it had risen at seeing her. It dropped right to the floor, and if he hadn't had so many years practicing hiding his emotions, he would've swayed in place like she'd shoved at him. "I thought you didn't believe in divorce,” he said numbly. 

"What I believe in even less is waiting around for my marriage to fix itself." She looked beaten, downtrodden, and he hated that it was because of him. He didn't know that he'd been responsible for it until now, but he was. 

"I wasn't aware that was something we were waiting on," he said, but he took the folder and flipped it open. 

It was professional; he could tell that much at a glance. It was an opening offer-- nothing he'd have to worry about yet-- and her lawyer's information so that Tony could pass it along to his. 

He swallowed. "So you're serious about this." 

"Yes. We're... too different, now. I admit, I kept hoping that we'd reconnect and work it out, but." She stopped and pulled up another smile. Her eyes were watery as she looked up at him, but she also looked proud. "You're Iron Man." 

"I'm just trying to help people," he said. She wanted a divorce instead of just staying separated because he was Iron Man? He could honestly say that he didn't anticipate this as one of the consequences for becoming a hero. 

"I'm not punishing you for that," she said, because she always had been able to tell what was bothering him. "You're doing good in the world, and I would certainly not want to stand in your way. But you have to admit, we don't fit anymore. We haven't for years. Seeing you as Iron Man... it wasn't the last straw or anything, but it did make me come to terms with the fact that there's no point in keeping up the charade." 

"Charade?" Tony repeated. 

"Our marriage. We don't live together. What would be the point of continuing on like this? You should be free to- to do whatever you wish with whoever you wish." 

"I never cheated on you," he said immediately. They may not have acted like a married couple, but Tony had never forgotten that they were married. Pepper and the rest of the world seemed to have forgotten about his wedding announcement from fifteen years ago, but he'd loved Wanda for every day that passed in between their wedding day and now. Even the (almost) decade they'd spent apart. 

"I know," she said. It was the kind of faith no one had shown in him since... well, since Wanda. "But if we're not going to act as a married couple, then what's the point of continuing to call ourselves that? I don't want a divorce, it's true, but I think this is the happiest option for both of us. We don't know each other anymore." 

"Yeah. You said that when you left." 

_I don't know you anymore, Tevye. I miss the man I married, and he's not here anymore._

He hadn't had anything to say to her then, and he didn't know what to say to it now. Because he _was_ different. He'd changed, and she... hadn't. Not as drastically, at least, and certainly not in the same ways that he had. "We could try," he found himself saying. 

"Try what?" 

"Knowing each other. This," he said, finally snapping the folder shut and giving it a wave, "is going to take a lot of time for our lawyers to figure out. We can start the process right away if you want, and if we decide to cancel it before it's pushed through, then it's no harm done. If you want to continue on and get a divorce, then there wasn’t any time wasted." 

"Tevye," she started, then stopped. She closed her eyes and took a breath. "Tony. What would be the point?" 

"I love you," he said, honest with her in a way he'd never been with anyone else. Everyone else used it against him, but she never had. 

"You loved me then, and it didn't work. Why should this be any different?" 

"I can't guarantee that it will be," he said with a small shrug that made him feel like he was eight years old again. "But what's the harm in trying?" 

"The safety of my heart, for one," she said. "The safety of yours, for another." 

"Give me a week," he pleaded. "If, a week from now, you aren't having any second thoughts, then I won't bring it up again. We'll get a divorce exactly how you want." 

Wanda looked conflicted, which, unfortunately, was what he wanted to see. He didn't stand a chance if she held to her convictions, but he also didn't appreciate being the one to make her doubt herself. "A week," she agreed. "I'm still not sure what good it will do, but I think I owe you that much." 

Tony didn't want for Wanda to feel like she _owed_ him anything, but for now, he wasn't going to argue it. They could talk about it later. Hopefully, they'd be doing a lot of talking over this week. If it would be enough to save their marriage, that remained to be seen. 

* * *

"Uh, Tony?" Steve said. "Who is that?" 

Wanda and Tony were sitting at the table, basically trying to figure out where the hell to start, and the Avengers walked in. Half of them did, at least. 

"This is Wanda, my wife." Tony half-expected for her to correct him and say 'soon to be ex-wife', but all she did was smile and wave at them. "And uh, Wanda this is-" 

"I recognize the Avengers," she interrupted, but she was still smiling at him so he didn't take it personally. She never had liked it when he told her things she already knew, and their compromise, back in the day, had been for her to head it off before he got in too far. "It's nice to meet you." 

Tony was the subject of quite a few blank stares, all of them from the Avengers that had walked in. "You're married?" Clint asked. "Since when?" 

"I've been married since before I met any of you. We were just... separated." Tony took a drink from his water in the hopes that they'd see he didn't want to talk about it and leave it alone. 

"Why do you have your hair covered?" Steve asked, because he was well meaning but way too curious to keep his mouth shut and ask about it later. 

"Because I'm Jewish and married," Wanda said. She didn't elaborate. 

"Alright," Natasha said. "Cool. We'll see you around then, I guess." When she left the room, Clint followed, and Sam pulled Steve with him as he went. 

"Nice to meet you," Sam said with a friendly smile to Wanda, which she returned. 

"You too." 

Wanda tapped her finger against her glass as she thought. "They don't know you're Jewish, do they?" 

"I haven't observed anything but the High Holy Days for as long as they've known me. And even then, I don't think they know why I'm taking the time off." 

She sighed. "I'm not here to lecture you about your faith, especially since I know you've never believed in Adonai, but being Jewish was part of you." 

"It still is," Tony said automatically, but what proof did he have of that? What had he done to make her believe that? 

"Is it?" Wanda asked, not accusing but trying to get him to think about it. "Tev- Tony," she corrected herself, "I left because I looked at you and didn't recognize the man I married." 

"You can call me Tevye. I might be Tony to everyone else, but I don't expect for you to call me that." 

"I don't wish to call you a name you no longer go by." 

"I'll always be Tevye to you." 

Wanda swallowed thickly, casting her eyes down. "But you're not, are you? You... you scrubbed yourself of everything that made you look Jewish. If that was a choice that you made because you were no longer comfortable with it, then we could deal with that. I admit that it would've taken me quite a long time to get used to it, but I would have. You stopped being yourself, and you did it because other people told you that you should." 

"It's not that simple," Tony mumbled, even though it was. When Howard had died and he was meant to take over, he'd stopped wearing a kippah to Board meetings because all they did was stare, and he hadn't seen the point in taking it off for the meetings and putting it back on afterwards, so he'd stopped wearing it altogether. After that, he'd shaved his beard. Again, because they'd kept staring. He still took Shabbat off at first, but they'd kept calling his assistants and insisting that it was an emergency until he talked to them. He got tired of expecting the interruptions, and at first kept his phone on him, then eventually it got to the point where it was easiest for him to just go into work like it was any other day. 

It had been a slow, steady decline until he barely recognized himself. Therefore, it hadn't been too big of a surprise when Wanda said that she couldn't recognize him either. 

* * *

"Pepper, I need Friday and Saturday cleared." 

"What?" she asked, aghast. " _This_ Friday and Saturday? But- Mister Stark, you have-" 

"I know it's short notice and I'm sorry, but I need those days free." 

"Why?" 

"My wife's in town," he said. He wasn't going to explain Shabbat to her, much less all of the preparation that it took. It used to be something him and Wanda had enjoyed doing together, but as he became more involved in the company, they'd stopped having that time together. 

"And she needs for those two days completely uninterrupted?" Pepper asked doubtfully. 

"More like I _want_ to spend those two days with her completely uninterrupted. And I won't be available on my phone either, so try not to have any emergencies." 

Pepper bit back a frustrated sigh. "Yes, sir." 

Telling the Avengers that he wouldn't be available for those two days was easier, if only because they'd all taken a few days off from active duty before. 

* * *

"Tevye," Wanda said, pulling off her headscarf and then unbraiding her hair, "why are you so intent on us staying married?" 

"Because I love you. Don't you love me, too?" 

"Of course I do. You know that I do. My concern is that we're too different, now." 

"I'm the same man I've always been," Tony said, then lifted one corner of his mouth in a smile. "A man who has more love for you than sense." 

Wanda laughed, running her fingers through her hair. "I suppose that's true. I remember you begging your father to talk to mine." She looked over at him fondly, her hair falling in waves behind her. She brought her knees up and rested her chin on them. "You hated to ask him for anything, but when you wanted to marry me, you said there was nothing you wouldn't do." 

"And it worked, didn't it? We got married. Very traditional ceremony-- Howard almost didn't know what to do with himself." 

"I remember." Wanda reached out a hand and put it on Tony's cheek, looking at him with so much love in her eyes that Tony could practically feel it as a weight on his skin. "I couldn't be with you anymore because you didn't like _yourself._ " She stroked her thumb across his cheekbone. "When we got married... Tevye, you were so full of life, so full of love. You whittled it from your personality until you were a mannequin with your old face. I don't need for you to change back into who you were when we met. If you want me to stay, all I need is to know that you like yourself again. Or that you're willing to try." 

He turned his face into her hand and brought a hand up to rest on her arm. "I'm trying," he said quietly. He was vulnerable with her when he tried not to be with anyone else. 

She was right; he'd tried to wring himself out so that he was a pale imitation of Howard, and he'd stuck with that because-- with the exception of Wanda-- everyone had seemed to like him better that way. Everything with the company went better when the employees and the Board looked at him and thought that he had more in common with them than the characters in Fiddler on the Roof. 

Tony took a deep breath and turned his head further to kiss her fingers. "I can't promise results, but I am trying." 

Wanda leaned in slowly. She put her hand on her shoulder and used the leverage to scoot closer. She pressed her mouth against his softly. Afterwards, she leaned their foreheads together. "Did Iron Man to save the day earlier?" she teased. 

"He always does." 

She kissed him again, lingering. "I'm proud of you." 

"Does that mean you're staying?" 

"Do you want me to? I know we've talked about not getting divorced-- and I'm definitely willing to stay married-- but there's a difference between that and living together again. Full time. I know it might not be easy to have me here with all of the Avengers." 

"My love, you are a piece of cake to live with compared to a single one of them. I would love to have you here if you wanted to stay. And the invitation is extended to Pietro, as well. I know that you don't like to spend much time without him, and he did live with us once." 

Wanda kissed him again, smiling this time. "I'll call him tomorrow and tell him that I'm staying. He'll probably ask what changed, but he missed you too." 

"I find that hard to believe." 

"He did," she said with a laugh. "He just doesn't like to admit it." 


End file.
